School News – 30th June 

Crimson Global Academy (CGA) recently announced its first ever committee of student leaders; with such a diverse cohort of students from all over the world, the prefects will certainly be an integral part of the school community, leading initiatives and student wellbeing activities. The CGA press interviewed three student leaders: Yuko Nagakura, the Head Prefect; Dahiana Gussoni, the Head Student of Greenwich; Chaytan Hall, the Head Prefect of Aoraki for the CGA community to get a sense of who our leaders are. 

Interviewer (I): Tell us about yourself! 

Yuko: My name is Yuko and I’m a 16 year old Crimson Global Academy student based in Kyoto, Japan. I’m also the Head Prefect of the school, meaning I lead the student board (also known as the student government) in improving and sharing more about CGA. I joined CGA after COVID-19 impacted Japan and the physical school I was attending at the time, switched to online learning. I felt that if I was going to be learning from home, I should be learning from a school that was meant to be online. My hobbies include scuba diving and anything related to political activism!

Dahiana: My name is Dahiana and I’m 16 years old, born and raised in Costa Rica. I’m the Head Student of Greenwich. My hobbies include swimming and reading: growing up near the ocean my parents have always given great importance to being able to swim. Swimming started as an obligation, it later became a hobby, and it’s now my passion. I started competitive swimming when I was nine with my first open water swim competition. My area of most experience is in open water swimming, however, I also compete in long distance events at the pool. I’ve been training and competing non-stop since a young age which has led me to consider the swimming pool like my second home.  I live in a small town where there are not many academic opportunities that would facilitate my dream of studying abroad. I joined CGA to learn from excellent professors among other students that share my same love for learning. 

Interviewer (I): Dahiana has some incredible results in open water swimming such as coming 5th in the Women Juvenile (14-19) at the World Final Championship in Cancun. Our CGA Sports Team will be interviewing her in the future to hear about her sporting accomplishments. 

Chaytan: My name is Chaytan and I’m 19 years old. I live in New Zealand and I’m the Head Prefect of Aoraki. My hobbies include video games, art, theater and reading. I joined CGA to get a world class education. 

Interviewer: What does a typical school day look like for you?

Yuko: I’m a full time student online school student so most of my day is spent at home on my computer. My first class starts at 11:30 am on most days so I spend the morning finishing up homework or doing revision for my classes (a lot of past papers). I do most of my extracurricular activities after school or on the weekend.  This ranges from organising SHEQUALITY (a youth organisation I run), meetings with the rest of the student board, writing for The CGA Press, debating, and more!

Dahiana: After I wake up, I usually do dry land exercises for swim training. Afterwards, I catch up with school work such as pre-readings (I am a full-time student at CGA which gives me a lot of flexibility), then I go to my  classes. When I finish them, I usually chill out for a while, sometimes I take a nap or try to do a bit more of school work and extracurriculars. Then I go to swim practice that takes most of my afternoon. Afterwards I watch a movie with my brother or read, and then I go to sleep.

Chaytan: Busy mornings and relaxed evenings. I have classes and homework, but also plenty of time to spend on the fun things. Not much of an extracurricular person.

Interviewer: What are some plans / ideas you have in your leadership role and how do you plan to implement them?

Yuko: I have a lot of things in mind! Firstly, we are currently planning for “Fresher’s Week”, which is going to be two weeks of exciting games, movies, and other activities to welcome the new cohort of students joining CGA this summer. We have also been looking at ways to improve student engagement and the technology that CGA is currently using. One of my main goals for the future is to increase the number of student-led clubs!

Dahiana: An advantage that can become prejudicial in the long run is that our CGA classes are small and we are not forced to stand out of our comfort zone regarding public speaking, especially in an online setting. One of my goals would be to help the students outgrow their timidness and become self confident in sharing their ideas. Improving our self-confidence is very important as it is the first step to value ourselves and recognize our potential. This can be done through dynamic activities that require us to overcome the fear of public speaking and become experts in a way that the tedx talks would be jealous of. The student board is also always open to new suggestions: if you have any ideas, please share them! We would love to make CGA as immersive and beneficial as possible. 

Chaytan: One of the things which I proposed needed fixing during my application process is the internal communication between the school and the students / parents. 

Interviewer: Do you have any advice for the younger CGA students?

Yuko: I highly recommend making an effort to connect with other students! If someone mentions a hobby that you’re also interested in, reply to them or even direct message them. Doing so has helped me make friends with other CGA students. Also, join clubs! There are many clubs and initiatives (both staff-led and student-led) offered and you can gain a new skillset + get to know your peers better by joining.

Dahiana: CGA is a wonderful school that offers great opportunities. I definitely encourage you to take advantage of those opportunities such as MUN Club, Finance club, etc. Additionally: learn from your teachers. The teachers at CGA really want you to succeed and if you show interest in improving, they will always support you with feedback that will progressively help you achieve your academic goals. Even though we only see each other through a screen, we can still create strong connections: having classmates from different parts of the world allows us to have a worldwide perspective. Learn from your classmates and become more understanding of different cultures.

Chaytan: My biggest advice is to have fun: don’t be afraid to ask questions and talk to your teachers to get to know them. It is easier to work together if you are comfortable around them. If you need something repeated, say so as they won’t mind, they are always there to support you. 

We are certainly excited to see what the future holds for CGA, we are sure the school is in good hands with amazing school leaders. If you have any questions or concerns, the student prefects certainly don’t mind answering or supporting you in your journey. Also, if you have any ideas for CGA, don’t hesitate to contact them using Slack, the Crimson Community, or your CGA email.